


Double Date

by E350tb



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Double Dating, Fluff, M/M, Other, before the most recent arc, set in the Marooned Together universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-18
Updated: 2019-08-18
Packaged: 2020-09-06 20:41:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20297641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/E350tb/pseuds/E350tb
Summary: Jeff's been looking forward to tonight for ages.Set in the Marooned Together universe.





	Double Date

**Author's Note:**

  * For [CaptainJZH](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainJZH/gifts).

> A present for my good friend Jake. Thanks very much to [realfakedoors](https://archiveofourown.org/users/realfakedoors/pseuds/realfakedoors) for proof-reading!

**Double Date**

Jeff Fryman paced back and forth as he waited for his husband to emerge from the bathroom. He gazed up at the roof, at the hexagon patterns along the pale green surface - he focused on how some seemed smaller than the others (had they always been like that?). Every so often, he squeezed his hands together and exhaled, long and loudly. 

He wasn’t _anxious_, no, no, definitely not, just… _antsy. _He’d been looking forward to tonight for ages, and he wanted it to go _perfectly_.

...Or at least as perfectly as anything ever went on New Earth.

The door opened, and Jeff turned around. He raised an eyebrow, his lips thinning ever so slightly.

“Is that… is that what you’re wearing?”

Peedee looked down at the lime green sweater, lightly sprinkled with stitches and patches to cover holes, somewhat ragged jeans, and old army boots that said, ‘I don’t know if that’s blood or mud, don’t ask me’. He shrugged.

“It was the best stuff I could find,” he replied. “You know I don’t go for the suits, babe.”

Jeff, on the other hand, most certainly did. He wore his finest mayoral suit (without a sash, of course - _not that he’d had a sash made, no sir_.) It was navy blue and double-breasted, with a shiny purple tie done in a windsor knot and shined shoes. He looked more like he was going to give a speech then go to dinner at the Diamond’s Lament.

“Yeah, but…” Jeff’s shoulders sagged. “This is supposed to be _special…_”

“Dude, you know Stevonnie’s just gonna turn up in the same jumpsuit they always wear, right?” replied Peedee. “I’m pretty sure they don’t own anything else.”

“Yeah, true,” nodded Jeff. “We have to take them to those tailor rubies near the museum. The Curator told me they’re pretty good…”

“The Curator’s been wearing the same shirt, tie and waistcoat for twenty years, he’s not exactly a fashion expert.”

“True.”

Jeff rolled his eyes and smiled, stepping over and adjusting Peedee’s collar.

“You’re lucky you can pull just about anything off, Peeds,” he said.

“I can’t pull of a v-neck.”

“Nobody can,” agreed Jeff.

He glanced at his watch.

“We’ve got twenty minutes, we’d better go,” he said.

“We live five minutes from the Diamond’s Lament.”

“I know, I just wanna get a table.”

He grabbed Peedee’s arm and just about pulled him out of his penthouse.

“But… but we got a _reservation_…”

* * *

Simon had outdone himself, Jeff thought. He’d not only reserved them a table, but he’d managed to find one in a fairly quiet spot away from the hustle and bustle of the main floor. He’d even secured some candles - probably using imitation wax, but it was the thought that counted.

They had arrived a full fifteen minutes early, and made small talk as they waited for the other set of lovers.

“So,” said Jeff, “I was walking through the market, right, ‘cause I wanted to get…”

“The _good _stuff?”

“Not Reddick Berries,” grunted Jeff. “There’s a Peridot there who’s cloning apples.”

“Oh yeah,” nodded Peedee. “Those things do _not _taste right.”

“It’s early days,” Jeff shrugged. “But I was passing this woman buying onions, right? And I looked in the window for a moment, and… _no reflection, Peedee._”

“Yeah, right, of course,” said Peedee skeptically. “New Earth has vampires now. Uh-huh.”

“I swear, I saw it!” exclaimed Jeff. “I…”

“Hey guys!”

Jeff turned. Stevonnie and Lapis were walking over - he winced slightly as he realised they were wearing the exact same things they always did, but shook his head and smiled. They sat down across from them, Lapis leaning forward slightly, looking just a little bit tired.

“Stevonnie! Lapis!” Jeff greeted. “You, uh, you okay, Lapis?”

“Yeah,” she replied. “Just tired.”

“You don’t need to sleep,” said Peedee.

“I know, but… we had to get some stuff at the market, and there’s _way_ too many people over there.”

“I hear that,” agreed Jeff.

“Plus there’s vampires,” added Peedee.

“_Peedee._”

“So, how are you doing, Stevonnie?” asked Peedee.

“I’m good!” replied Stevonnie. “I’ve really been looking forward to this! I mean, any excuse for a date with my _favourite person_…”

They hugged Lapis, the blue gem blushing as she hugged back.

“Other than that, nothing’s been happening,” they continued, “Mostly hanging on the beach, y’know?”

“Morping,” added Lapis.

“Oh _yeah_, I’m sure you two _love _to morp, don’tcha?” asked Peedee, eyebrow raised.

“Of course!” said Stevonnie cheerfully. “It’s always great trying new techniques and…”

The part of them that had been Connie seemed to kick in.

“..._Peedee._”

Peedee chuckled.

“Okay, so, what do you wanna order?”

* * *

“I don’t know what this is made of,” said Peedee, looking down at the half-eaten steak in front of him, “and frankly I don’t wanna know. I-”

“I know what’s it made of,” interrupted Jeff.

“Good. _Don’t tell me._”

Jeff chuckled, taking a sip of the sweet, neon-green drink in front of him. His head buzzed pleasantly as he took in the taste - he hadn’t had such a nice evening in ages, he thought.

“So,” said Peedee. “You haven’t unfused in twenty years. Not even once?”

Stevonnie smirked.

“Goin’ for Garnet’s record,” they replied.

“Do you ever really think about it?” asked Peedee.

“Peedee, don’t-” Jeff began.

“No, it’s fine,” replied Stevonnie. “To be honest, I don’t think about being a fusion as much as I used to. I guess… look, Garnet’s a fusion, right? But do you ever think of her as a fusion?”

“Nah,” said Peedee.

“Yeah,” nodded Stevonnie. “That’s me now. I’m a fusion, sure, but that’s not the most important thing about me, you know? I don’t define myself as a mix of Steven and Connie, I…”

“You’re _you_,” said Jeff.

“Yeah.”

“And they’re _mine_.”

Lapis grinned and put an arm over Stevonnie’s shoulder.

“My big, beautiful fusion,” she continued.

Stevonnie giggled and kissed her cheek. Jeff raised an eyebrow, before responding by kissing his husband.

“It’s not a competition, Jeff,” said Peedee.

“Oh, sorry.” Jeff pulled back, but Peedee smirked.

“But if it’s all the same to you, I _would _like to win.”

Jeff laughed and kissed him again.

* * *

“Y’know, I had a really great time tonight.”

Stevonnie grinned as they stepped out of the Diamond’s Lament, taking in the dim glow of the swirling lights in the sky. Jeff, Peedee and Lapis followed, the latter looking up at the dance of colours - she smiled and took Stevonnie’s hand.

“Yeah,” she said. “So did I. I don’t normally eat but… but I liked that.”

“The Diamond’s Lament definitely do a mean… well, everything,” shrugged Jeff. “But then again, I remember when it was mostly processed gruel and stuff. We’ve come a pretty long way, y’know?”

“I do,” nodded Peedee. “Because you say that _every time_ we go outside.”

Jeff chuckled and gently slapped Peedee’s arm.

“You know,” he continued, “there’s room for you guys here whenever you want it…”

“Thanks,” replied Stevonnie, “but no. The barn’s our home; we couldn’t leave it.”

“The Chateau de Lazuli, huh?” said Peedee, crossing his arms. “Leaky roof, draughty, no shower-”

“When your girlfriend’s a Lapis Lazuli, you can have a shower anywhere,” replied Lapis.

“Right, yeah, and you get to see them naked, so it’s a win-win sit-”

“_Peedee._” Jeff put a hand on his husband’s shoulder and made a show of shaking his head.

“Besides,” continued Stevonnie, trying and failing to cover their blush, “this is all beautiful, but… I don’t want to lose the stars, y’know? Or the sun, or the rain, or the… just, those little things, you know.”

“I haven’t seen rain in twenty years,” mused Jeff. “I don’t even think I’ve _thought_ about that.”

“I try not to,” replied Peedee, his tone highlighted with slight bitterness. “I… I don’t want to open those wounds again. I did my mourning, you know? What’s the point in nostalgia?”

Stevonnie bit their lip.

“Well,” they said, “it’s the rainy season on the island, if you guys wanted to… y’know…”

Jeff and Peedee glanced at each other.

“Would you be okay with that, Peeds?” asked Jeff.

Peedee closed his eyes and nodded.

“For you, Jeff? _Anything_.”

* * *

The four sat just inside the door of the barn, watching the rain pelting down on the beach. Through the swirling downpour and the darkness, they could just about see the surf crashing against the sand in the near distance, and they could hear the wind and the sea. Lapis was leaning into Stevonnie’s side, the fusion gently rubbing her shoulder. Next to them, Jeff was huddled under a blanket with Peedee, his suit jacket and tie discarded on the wooden floor next to them.

Jeff smiled and hugged his husband, remembering times long ago when they lay in bed and listened to the spring rains. They were times never to be repeated, but the memory made him not melancholic, but strangely calm.

“I missed this,” he whispered.

Peedee nodded, smiling.

“So I’m guessing the date went well, huh?” he asked.

Jeff grinned, closing his eyes.

“Everything went _perfectly_.”

And as the storm raged on, the two couples found themselves lulled to sleep by the sound of cascading rain, taking shelter in each other’s tender arms.

**Author's Note:**

> i love these ships guys


End file.
